In the game of poker, players place gaming tokens onto the center of a table to make a wager or match another players wager. Throughout each round of gameplay, the collection of gaming tokens in the center of the table forms what is known as the poker pot. The winner of each round collects all gaming tokens that were accumulated in the pot during the respective round. The gaming tokens used in the game are assigned monetary values. Poker is often played inside of casinos, however, sets are also manufactured and sold to the home market for games to be played outside of casinos. There are aspects of the game of poker than can be improved with additional information gathering sensors and displaying devices included in a poker set. These improvements will allow users to be able to make more knowledgeable decisions during gameplay. The improvements will also increase the speed of the game and make the game more interesting.
One important piece of information during a game of poker is the combination of the assigned monetary values of all gaming tokens in the pot at any given time (otherwise known as the pot value). Poker sets sold for use outside of casinos do not include any sensors, thus the pot value is determined manually by summing the monetary values of each token in the pot. Often times, the exact pot value goes unknown throughout each round. Counting the pot value is a time consuming process that often interferes with the flow of the game. The pot value is important to know because knowledgeable wagers are based off of the reward that can be gained if the round is won. It also adds interest to the game for players to know exactly what can be won at the end of each round.
There are a number of disclosed systems that do not use weigh sensors to identify the tokens formed in the pot. Some of these systems include RFID tokens, magnetic sensors and/or optical sensors. These devices are costly and are aimed at the casino market rather than for players to own a set of their own, as they are too expensive to be competitive for the home poker game market.
A weight sensor is a low cost alternative. U.S. Pat. No. 8,157,643B1 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,451,054 disclose devices that have specifically assigned weigh sensors for the different monetary values assigned to the gaming tokens. The user is required to collect tokens that have the same monetary value and place them onto the correctly assigned weigh sensor platform. Assigned platforms are not ideal for a poker pot application as it would be time consuming to organize each wager and collect tokens that have the same monetary values. It is easier and faster to place all the gaming tokens into the same location without the need to organize the tokens.
Other systems identified in U.S. Pat. No. 7,351,145 B1 and U.S. Patent application 20160071367A1 describe specifically weighted tokens such that no two combinations of tokens would result in the same weight as a different combination of tokens. These devices use a “look up table”, where each specific weight will correspond to a unique combination of gaming tokens. These devices work best when the wagers consist of a small number of tokens. In a poker pot, the number of tokens can exceed 150 different tokens. Uniquely weighted combinations for a high number of tokens results in weight combinations that are very close in weight. As a result, the sensor must be extremely accurate as a deviation from the actual weight could result in an extremely different reading in pot value (the error in the pot value reading is not proportional to the error in the sensor reading).
Therefore, there is still a need for a system that uses low cost sensors that do not require a high level of accuracy. Poker sets sold to the home market use gaming tokens that are shaped similar to those used in the casinos. As a result, it is ideal that the poker set includes gaming tokens that are similar in shape as the tokens used in the casinos. There are two types of tokens used most in casinos. The first is a poker chip which is generally in the form of a thin, cylindrical shape. The second is a poker plaque which is larger in size than the poker chip is thin and generally rectangular is perimeter shape.
Another important piece of information in the game of poker is knowing the total value added to the pot after a wager is made. When a player wagers all of their remaining gaming tokens, the total value of the wager is often unknown. As a result, the gaming tokens must be counted manually to determine the value of the wager before the following player can match the wager. This is also a time consuming process that often slows the flow of the game.
At the start of each round during poker gameplay, certain players are forced to wager a certain value of gaming tokens. The forced wagers are known as the blinds. The value of the blinds increases over a set length of time. The value of the blinds continues to increase in intervals throughout the entire game to ensure that the game ends within a reasonable amount of time. Another important piece of information in the game of poker is the time remaining until the value of the blinds needs to be increased. Currently, the time remaining until the value of the blinds needs to be increased is kept track of using a timer with an alarm. When the time reaches the end of the set length of time, the value of the blinds does not change until the round is completed. If players are in the middle of a round when the time alarm is activated, then they must wait until the round has completed before the resetting the timer. There is a time difference from when the timer alarm is activated to when the round ends. As a result, players often forget to reset the timer at the end of the round. It is beneficial for a timer to be incorporated with the gameplay such that the timer automatically resets once the round is completed.